Apparatus for handling metal sheets after pickling



June '30, 1925.

c STEELE APPARATUS FOR HANDLING METAL SHEETS AFTER PICKLING '3 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed Oct. 11. 1922 FIG. 1

June 30, 1925. 1,543,733

' L.C.STEELE APPARATUS FOR HANDLING METAL SHEETS AFTER PICKLING Filed 0co.-l1. 1922 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 sq J ' FIG. 7

agl 33 INVENTOR E 2 I s j I so g8 /7a 7% June 30, 1 925. 1,543,733

- L. c. STEELE APPARATUS FOR HANDLING METAL SHEETS AFTER PICKLI NG 9 Filed Oct. 11 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 3

INVENTOR MGM M Patented June 30, 1925.

UNITED STATES LAWRENCE G. STEELE, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING METAL SHEETS AFTER PICKLING.

Application filed October 11, 1922. Serial No. 593,798.

T 0 all whom it may ooncem:

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE C. STEELE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Handling Metal Sheets After Pickling; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to the handling of metal sheets after pickling, and its objects are to reduce the time and labor required for handling the sheets and to improve the quality of the finished meta-l by causing the sheets to protect each other from contact with the air while being removed from the pickling cradle and transferred to the bosh in which the sheets are immersed.

Metal sheets are commonly rolled in packs, and after the packs are rolled and sheared they are placed on edge in crates or cradles for pickling. Four such cradles are usually provided, and are suspended at the ends of radial arms carried by a rotary support which is periodically advanced one-fourth of a revolution to bring each crate suc cessively to the loading position, thence to the strong pickling position, the weak pickling position and the rinsing position, and then back to the loading position, where the pickled sheets are removed andtransferred to the water bosh, after which a fresh load of sheets is placed in the cradle for treatment.

Heretofore the sheets have been removed from the pickling cradles and transferred to the water bosh by hand 'labor. This is a laborious operation and consumes so much time while each cradle is being emptied that the sheets in the other cradles are likely to remain too long in the pickling baths, thus wasting both metal and acid. Also, it is of the greatest importance that the sheets be kept wet while being transferred from the pickling cradle to the bosh, and for this purpose it has been customary to spray water from a hose upon the sheets. An additional workman is required for this purpose, and the men who'are handling the sheets soon become thoroughly drenched.

My present invention is concerned with that part of the above-described operation wherein the sheets are transferred from the pickling cradle to the bosh. I provide a cradle divided into the usual compartments in which the sheets stand upright .11 on movable supports which, when the crade is to be unloaded, are caused to drop from a horizontal position to a vertical position, leaving the sheets free to fall by gravity upon a horizontal endless conveyer just below the cage. Thereupon the conveyer is caused to descend bodily in an oblique direction which causes the sheets, when released from the cage, to fall upon the conveyer and to overlap each other, leaving only a small strip at the end of each sheet exposed to the air. As soon as the conveyer descends far enough to release the sheets from the cage it rises again to its starting position. The conveyer is than set in motion and conveys the pile of overlapping sheets toward'the water bosh at such a rate that a workman can conveniently catch the sheets one by one and direct them into the bosh. As soon as the sheets have been removed from the cradle the movable supports of the cage may be returned to their horizontal sheet-supporting position and the cage may be reloaded while the pickled sheets are being delivered to the bosh. The several operations of releasing the sheet-supports, lowering and raising the conveyer, and

starting the conveyer in motion are ordinarily hand-controlled, but these mechanisms may be arranged for automatic operation, if desired.

For a more detailed understanding of my invention, reference may now be had to the accompanying drawingsfln which Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a set of apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the same apparatus as seen from the right of Fig, 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the pickling cradle; Fig. A is a fragmentary elevational view, with parts in section on the line 44, Fig. 3, showing the sheetsupporting fingers in raised position; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to a portion of Fig. 4, showing the sheet-supporting fingers in dumping position; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view showing the construction of the clutch which controls the vertical movement of the sheet conveyer; and Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view showing the con- StIk'HCtiOII of the guides for the conveyer ta es.

The pickling cradle.

Figs. 1 and 2 show the general construction of the pickling cradle, which consists of upper and lower castings 2 and 3 connected at the corners by posts 4, the upper ends of which are provided with hooks 5 by which the cradle may be attached to the usual lifting and transporting chains 6. Just above the bottom casting 3 is a set of horizontal shafts 7 which are mounted in fixed bearings 8 carried by the casting 3, and which support a set of vertical rods 9, the upper ends of which extend through openings in the upper casting 2 and are held in place by means of nuts 10.

Each of the horizontal shafts 7 carries a set of sheet-supporting fingers 11 which, when in their horizontal position shown in Figs. 3 and 4, support packs of sheets edgewise, as indicated at 12' on Fig, 4. When the shafts 7 are rocked to move the fingers 11 from this horizontal position to the vertical position shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the sheets are released and allowed todrop by gravity from the cradle. In order to rock the shafts 7 in this manner I provide each of the shafts 7 with a crank 13, and the outer endsof all of the cranks 13 are loosely pivoted by means of bolts 14 to a shifting lever 15. One end of the lever 15, as shown on Fig. 1, is provided with anotch 16 to receive a latch arm 17 shown on Fig. 2. The latch arm 17 is loosely pivoted at 18 to one arm .19 of a stationary casting 20 which also carries a fork 21 adapted to receive the pivoted arm 17. The shifting lever 15 extends between the arm 19 and the fork 21 of the casting 20 in such position that when the sheet-supporting fingers 11 are horizontal the notch 16 is in position to receive the pivoted arm 17 of the latch. The arm 17 is provided with a removable handle 22 suitably consisting of a section of pipe.

When it is desired to discharge the sheets from the cradle, the latch arm 17 is lifted by means-of the handle 22 and the weight of the sheets depresses the fin ers 11, thereby rocking all of the shafts and moving the shifting lever 15 to the right in Fig. 1

and to the left in Figs. 4 and 5. In order to rock the fingers 11 back to their horizontal position, one of the shafts 7 is extended beyond the frame of the cradle, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and is provided with a short lever 23. The removable handle 22 of the latch may suitably be made to fit both the latch arm 17 and the short leverarm 23, and by applying this handle or any other suitable implement to the lever 23, all of the shafts 7 which are connected thogether by the cranks .13 and the shifting levers 15 are rocked to bring the fingers 11 into their horizontal position, and the'latch 17 is replaced in the notch 16.

The vertical posts 4 of the cradle carry brackets 25 having upwardly projecting pins 26. Bars or. pipes 27, having their ends flattened and provided with openings to fit over the pins'26, .are provided to serve as the'cradle into the spaces between the vertical rods 9.

The sheet con/veyer.

When the sheets are discharged through the bottom of the cradle in the manner described above, they are received and carried away upon a. horizontal endless conveyer the construction and operation of which are shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 6. As shown in these figures, the conveyer mechanism is mounted upon a foundation on which are four vertical columns 31, the upper ends of which support the sheet cradle, which is provided for this purpose with projections 32 extending from the corners of the lower casting 3.

The foundation 30 also supports two housings 30 which are spaced apart the proper distance to receive between them a conveyer table consisting of parallel channel bars 33 connected by shafts 34 and 35 which carry sprocket wheels 36 around which extend endless chains 37.

tween guides 39 carried by the conveyer table. The guides 39 are secured to the side channels 33 and to braces 40, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 7.

The side channels 33 of the conveyer table also carry brackets in which are loosely pivoted the upper ends of pit men 46. The lower ends of the pitmen 46 are pivotally connected by means of bolts 47 to cranks 48, both of which are secured to a horizontal shaft 49. The cranks 48 carry two large counterweights 50 which tend to hold the shaft 49 in the position in which the conveyer table is in the upper position shown in full lines on Fig. 1.

When the sheets are discharged from the cradle they fall upon the upper runs of the chains 37 and are there supported in the manner shown in Fig. 1 Thereupon the conveyer table descends obliquely to the right, as shown in Fig. 1 being guided in its movement by the guide-ribs 38 between the guides 39, and then, after the sheets have been released from the cradle and have fallen upon the conveyer chains, as shown in dotted lines on Fig. 1, the conveyer immediately, rises to its full-line position and the chains 37 are then set in motion to advance the sheets toward a bosh 51. Power for imparting these movements to the conveyer table and to the conveyer chains is supplied by an electric motor 52 through a set of reduction gearing, including a pinion 53 on the armature shaft 54 of the motor 52, a spur gear 55 meshing with the pm ion 53 and carried by The housings 30" carry inclined guide-ribs 38 which slide bea countershaft 56, a pinion'57 carried by the countershaft 56 and meshing with a spur gear 58 on a countershaft 59, and a pinion 60 secured to the countershaft 59 and meshing with a spur gear 61 which is loosely mounted on the crank shaft 49. The motor 54 thus drives the gear 61 continuously. In order to cause the gear 61 to rotate the shaft 49 through one revolution to lower and raise the conveyer table, I provide a kick-out clutch of the construction shown in Fig. 6, consisting of a toothed clutch member 62 carried by the gear 61 and a movable clutch member 63 which is .slidably keyed on the crank shaft 49. A spring 64 is compressed between the clutch member 63 and a collar 65 on the shaft 49 and tends to force the clutch member 63 into engagement with the clutch member 62. The clutch member 63 carries a cam member 66 which is engaged by a pin 67 that extends through a stationary bracket 68 and is normally forced down into the path of the cam 66 by means of a pivoted arm 69 to which the'pin 67 is secured.

The pivoted arm 69, as shown, is carried by a rocking pin 100 which also carries a vertical crank arm 101 to the lower end of which is pivoted one end of a link 102, the other end of which is connected to the upper end of a crank arm 103 secured to a rock shaft 104 which also carries a horizontal crank arm 105. To the outer. end of the crank arm 105 is loosely pivoted the lower end of a link 106, the upper end of which is loosely pivoted to a hand lever107 mounted on a pivot pin 108.

When the hand lever 107 is pulled down it acts through the connections just described to lift the arm 69 and with it the pin 67. The spring 64 then forces the clutch member 63 into engagement with the constantly rotating clutch member 62, thereby causing the shaft 49 to rotate with the gear 61. The hand lever 107 is then released and the pin 67 is allowed to fall again into the path of the cam 66. 'As the crank shaft nears the end of its rotation, the cam 66 engages the stationary. pin 67 and Withdraws the clutch member 63 from the clutch member 62, with the result that the crank shaft 49 makes one complete revolution and then stops. This revolution acts through the pitmen 46 to lower the conveyer table and then raise the conveyer table to its starting position, where it is held by the counterweights 50.

For the purpose of moving the conveyer chains to deliver the sheets to the bosh, the gear 61 has rigidly attached to it a sprocket wheel 70 around which extends an endless chain 71 which also extends around a larger sprocket wheel 72 carried by a shaft 73. The shaft 7 3 also carries a pinion 74 meshing with a gear 75 which is loosely mounted on a shaft 76 and is driven continuously through the gearing just described. To the shaft 76, beyond its outer bearing 77, is keyed a wardly from the sprocket wheel 78 around a sprocket Wheel 80*on the end of the conveyer shaft 34, thence down and around a movable sprocket wheel 81 carried by a yoke 82, thence up and around a fixed sprocket wheel 83 which is mounted in a bracket 84 carried by one of the standards 31, and from the sprocket Wheel 83 the chain 79 extends gown to the sprocket wheel 78 on the shaft The yoke 82 which carries the movable sprocket wheel 81 also carries aweight 85 which descends when the conveyer table is lowered and rises when the conveyer table rises, thus keeping the chain 79 tight.

The shaft 76 which drives the conveyer chains is operated'only when it is desired to convey the overlapping sheets toward the bosh. In order to coup-1e this shaft to the gear 75 at these times, 1 provide a clutch consistin of a fixed member 86 carried by the gear 5 and a movable member 87 which is slidably keyed to the shaft 76 and which is provided with a shifting lever 88. The shifting lever 88 is pivoted atits lower end to the foundation 30 and is loosely connected at its upper end to one end of a link 89, the other end of which is loosely pivoted at 90 to a hand lever 91. When the hand lever 91 is moved to the left in Fig. 2, the clutch member 87 is engaged with the clutch member 86, thus rotating the shaft 76 and advancing the conveyer chains 37 through the gearing described above. "When the sheets have been delivered to the bosh the hand lever 90 is moved to the right, Fig. 2, thus disengaging the clutch member 87 from the clutch member 86 and stopping the conveyer chains.

The bosh 51 may be of any usual or desired construction and, as shown on Fig. 1, is provided with one or more springs 92 which engage the sheets with a pressure which may be regulated by means of an adjusting nut 93 on a bolt 94 which is connectedby means of a link 95 and a lever 96 to a rod 97 which carries the spring 92..

In the operation of the above described apparatus, the motor 52 is set in operation and continuously rotates the large gears 61 and 7 5. A cradle loaded with pickled sheets is lowered upon the upper ends of the standards 31, and the latch 17 is raised from the notch 16 by means of the handle 22, thus releasing the shifting lever 15 and permitting the supporting fingers 11 to drop to their vertical position under the weight of the sheets. The sheets then fall upon the upper runs of the conveyer chains 37, the conveyer at this time being in its upper position, and the sheets resting edgewise upon these chains, as shown in Fig. 1, and being supported in upright position by the vertical rods 9 of the cradle. The operator the-n lowers the hand lever 107, thereby raising the pin 67 and permitting the spring 64 to force theclutch member 63 into engagement with the rotating clutch member 62. The shaft 49 is thus rotated for one complete revolution, and is then stopped by the withdrawal of the clutch member 63 which is effected by the cam 66 and the pin 67. During this rotation of the shaft 49 the cranks 48'likewise make one revolution and, through the pitman 46, lower the conveyer table and immediately raise it again to its starting position. The table descends obliquely to the right in Fig. 1, and by this means the sheets, when their upper edges pass below the frame of the cradle, fall upon one another in the overlapping position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1. After the conveyer table stops in its upper position the operator moves the lever 91 to the left, Fig. 2, thus engaging the clutch member 87 with the rotating clutch member 86 and setting the conveyer chains in motion. The sheets are carried with the conveyer chains to the right, Fig. 1, and the operator seizes the sheets one after the other as they reach the end conveyer and tilts them down into the bosh. When all of the sheets have thus been transferred to the bosh the hand lever 91 is moved to the right, thus disengaging the clutch members 87 and 86 and stopping the conveyer chains.

As soon as the sheets have been discharged I from the cradle the fingers 11 may be again rocked to their horizontal position by turning the short lever 23 on one of the shafts 7, suitably by means of the handle 22. The crate is then ready to be loaded with another set of sheets, and since only a short time is consumed in removing the sheets from the cradle, it will be evident that the sheets which are being pickled in the other cradles of the system need not be immersed in the pickling acid any longer than is required to properly pickle the metal.

It will also be observed that when the sheets are being conveyed to the bosh on the con-veyer chains they overlap one another for nearly their whole surface area. The sheets are wet when discharged from the cage and keep each other wet through being overlapped.

Various modifications may be made in the apparatus which I have shown and described within the limits of my invention. For instance, the bosh 51 need not be located close to the unloading posit-ion of the cradle, but

may be at an convenient distance, the conveyer table eing correspondingly lengthened, or a second conveyer being employed,

if desired, such second conveyer being arranged as a continuation of the conveyer here shown.

I claim as my invention:

1. Apparatus for handling pickled sheets comprising a pickling receptacle, means for supporting sheets in upright position in said receptacle, means for discharging the sheets from said receptacle simultaneously in a vertical direction, and means for causing" said sheets to assume oblique positions in overlapped relation to one another.

2. Apparatus for handling pickled sheets comprising a pickling receptacle, means for discharging sheets vertically from said receptacle, means for causing said sheets to assume oblique positions in overlapped relation to one another, a bosh, and means for {)noyling said overlapping sheets toward said 3. Apparatus for handling pickled sheets comprising a horizontal conveyer, means for depositing pickled sheets edgewise thereon, and means for moving said conveyer in an oblique downwarddirection and for thereby causing said sheets to fall in overlapped relation upon said conveyer. I

4. Apparatus for handling pickled sheets comprising a pickling receptacle, movable members carried by said receptacle for supporting upright sheets therein, and a single movable member for moving said members to sheet-supporting position and from sheetsupporting position to release said sheets.

5. Apparatus for handling pickled sheets comprising a pickling receptacle composed of a rectangular frame, vertical rods dividing said frame into compartments, shafts extending across said frame near the bottom thereof, sheet-supporting fingers carried by said shafts and forming bottom supports for sheets in said compartments, and an oscillatory member for rocking all of said shafts to move said fingers to a horizontal sheet-supporting position and to control movement of said. fingers to vertical sheet-releasing position.

6. Apparatus for handling pickled sheets comprising a pickling receptacle composed of a rectangular frame, vertical rods divid ing said frame into compartments, shafts extending across said frame near the bottom thereof, sheet-supporting fingers carried by said shafts and forming bottom supports for sheets in said compartments, and meansfor rocking all of said shafts simultaneously to move said fingers between a horizontal sheet-supporting position and a vertical sheet-releasing position, the said means comprising cranks carried by the said shafts and pivotally connected to a shifting lever, and means for fixing the position of said shifting lever.

7. Apparatus for handling pickled sheets comprising a horizontal conveyer, means for depositing pickled sheets thereon and for holding said sheets upright while resting upon said conveyer, and means for moving said conveyer obliquely downward and for thereby causing said sheets tofall in overlapping relation upon said conveyer.

8. Apparatus for handling pickled sheets comprising a horizontal conveyer, means for depositing pickled sheets thereon and for holding said sheets upright while resting upon said conveyer, means for moving said conveyer obliquely downwardly and for thereby causingsaid sheets to fall in overlapping relation upon said conveyer, a bosh, and means for moving said conveyer to adyance said overlapping sheets toward said osh.

9. Apparatus for handling pickled sheets comprising a horizontal conveyer composed of spaced endless chains, supports adjacent to said conveyer and adapted to receive a pickling cradle, means for lowering said conveyer obliquely downward and for raising said conveyer to its starting position, and means for advancing said conveyer chains.

10. Apparatus for handling pickled sheets comprising a horizontal conveyer composed of a plurality of spaced endless chains, means for raising and lowering said conveyer comprising a crank shaft, pitmen connecting said crank shaft and said conveyer, a counterweight carried by said crank shaft and tending-to hold said conveyer in its upper position, and guides for directing the movement of said conveyor in an oblique direction when moved by said pitmen.

11. Apparatus for handling pickled sheets comprising a horizontal conveyer composed of a plurality of spaced endless chains, means for raising and lowering said conveyer comprising a crank shaft, pitmen connecting said crank shaft and said conveyer, a counterweight carried by said crank shaft and tending to hold said conveyer in its upper position, guides for directing the movement of said conveyer in an oblique direction when moved by said pitmen, and means for rotating'said crank shaft and for causing said shaft to stop at the end of one complete revolution.

12. Apparatus for handling sheets comprising a receptacle for supporting said sheets in vertical position, means for discharging said sheets vertically in side by side relation upon a support, and means for imparting relative horizontal movement to said receptacle and support, in a plane transverse to the plane of the sheets, to cause said sheets to assume superposed positions.

In testimony whereof I, the said LAW- RENCE O. STEELE, have hereto set my hand.

LAWRENCE C. STEELE. 

